This election is
probably the most difficult to analyse of all elections
covered on this site. As will be apparent from the list
above, there is huge potential for confusion among the
various candidate designations. In general I have followed
the descriptions given in my main source, James Knight and
Nicolas Baxter-Moore's Northern Ireland Local Government
Elections, 1973. I have made one major systematic
exception: in electoral areas where a candidate or
candidates described as "Unionist" were not opposed by
anyone calling themselves an "Official Unionist", I have
added them to the UUP tally. This affects 74 elected
councillors and and about 95,000 votes. I have noted where I
did this on individual council pages below. I'm well aware
that in some cases the "Unionist" may have had more support
from local UUP members than the "Official Unionist" but this
is the best I can do thirty years on. Individuals who think
I have misdescribed them are very welcome to get in touch.
Less controversially (I hope), I have merged the "Vanguard
Loyalist" elected in Down with the other Vanguard candidates
and the "Loyalist and Democratic Unionist" councillors in
Lisburn, Newtownabbey and Ards with the DUP; and the
Loyalist Unionist Coalition candidates of Craigavon have had
their votes reallocated to their secondary affiliations. An
additional irritation, not obvious below but clear from the
26 pages dealing with each council, is that Knight gave only
the surnames of candidates (and the marital status of
women!).

This is a particularly difficult election to analyse
given the plethora of candidate descriptions, especially on
the Unionist side. The list below details my numerous
differences from the summary provided by Flackes and Elliott,
also to be found on CAIN:

Antrim: Allen, elected in Area C, ran as a
"Unionist" against three "Official Unionists": I therefore
have counted him separately from the UUP tally.

Ards: Flackes and Elliot have 1 Vanguard councillor
and no "Loyalists"; Knight records the opposite. Brown, the
successful Loyalist Coalition candidate, was subsequently a
Vanguard candidate, but I am following Knight here.

Armagh: Cresswell, elected in Area D, ran as a
"Unionist" against two "Official Unionists": I therefore
have counted him separately from the UUP tally. Flackes and
Elliot seem to count the Republican Clubs councillor as
SDLP.

Ballymoney: I'm baffled by Flackes and Elliot's
figure of nine Official Unionists. Knight has only four,
with two more "Unionists" running against "Official
Unionist" candidates. Three of the six independent/non-party
councillors appear to be counted as UUP by Flackes and
Elliot.

Banbridge: The seven "Unionists" elected in Area B
were not competing with "Official Unionist" candidates, so I
count them as UUP. The three "Unionists" elected in Area A
were however in competition with two "Official Unionists" so
I count them separately.

Belfast: Knight has no "Official Unionist"
candidates, so I count all "Unionists" as UUP.

Castlereagh: The three "Unionists" elected in Area
C were not competing with "Official Unionist" candidates, so
I count them as UUP. The "Unionists" elected in Areas A and
B were however in competition with "Official Unionists" so I
count them separately.

Coleraine: Anderson, elected in Area A, ran as a
"Unionist" against two "Official Unionists": I therefore
have counted him separately from the UUP tally.

Cookstown: S. Glasgow, elected in Area A, ran as a
"Unionist" against two "Official Unionists": I therefore
have counted him separately from the UUP tally despite his
long later history inside the party.

Craigavon: Baird, Cairns and Creith, elected in
Area D, ran against an "Official Unionist": I therefore have
counted them separately from the UUP tally.

Down: Knight has no "Official Unionist" candidates,
so I count all "Unionists" as UUP.

Dungannon: Knight has no "Official Unionist"
candidates, so I count all "Unionists" as UUP.

Fermanagh: Three of the four "Unionists" elected
ran against "Official Unionist" candidates and so are not
tallied with the UUP here. The fourth, Scott in Area E, ran
against an "Independent Unionist" (Cathcart, presumably the
same who was later a UPNI candidate in 1975 and 1977) so I
have tallied him as UUP. Flackes and Elliot seem to have
tallied Cathcart, the "Unionists" and the "Official
Unionists" as UUP.

Magherafelt: The four "Unionists" elected had no
opposition from "Official Unionists" and so are tallied with
the UUP. However Brown, the unsuccessful "Unionist" in Area
C, ran against three "Official Unionists" and so is tallied
separately.

Newry and Mourne: Knight has no "Official Unionist"
candidates, so I count all "Unionists" as UUP.

North Down: The "Unionists" in Area D had no
opposition from "Official Unionists" and so are tallied with
the UUP. However the "Unionist" in Area C was opposed by
three "Official Unionist" candidates and so is tallied
separately.

Omagh: Knight has no "Official Unionist"
candidates, so I count all "Unionists" as UUP.

Strabane: Knight has no "Official Unionist"
candidates, so I count all "Unionists" as UUP.

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